5 Bollywood Films That Taught Us How To Let Go Of That Toxic Ex

Written by Niharika Nayak, BA (Media & Communication)  • 

Isn’t love the best feeling in the entire world? It makes the world go round and leaves you feeling happier, brighter, motivated, and optimistic. And when you have the right person at your side, it even helps you become the best version of yourself. On the other hand, a toxic relationship can leave you feeling terrible and destroy your self-worth. While many movies will have you believe that all relationships are sunshine and rainbows, those of us who have dated toxic people know the truth. And well, Bollywood has often taught us to just “stick it out,” and the relationship would get better. Bollywood films often normalize toxic behavior like stalking, cheating, physical abuse, etc., and it sends a very messed up image to the audience. Of course, there are also some Bollywood films that teach us to let go of that ex and live our own lives. So here are seven Bollywood films that taught us to let go of that toxic ex:

1. Devendra Singh “Dev” Dhillon: Dev D

Image: Twitter

Source: Twitter

Although Dev is the protagonist of the film, he is no real hero. He grows up as the son of a wealthy businessman, is highly privileged, and even gets to study abroad. On the other hand, Paro, his childhood sweetheart, is kind, bold, and idealistic. Although Paro cares deeply for Dev, he takes her love for granted and doesn’t respect her. One day he hears rumors that Paro had been intimate with someone else from the village while he was away. His ego goes into overdrive (despite him also having multiple relationships). Rather than believing the woman he loves, he chooses to believe the neighborhood losers spreading the rumor and gets physically aggressive with Paro. Despite Paro claiming innocence, he calls her misogynistic slurs, and Paro finally leaves him. Paro then listens to her parents and decides to marry someone else. It’s only on her wedding day that Dev learns the truth, yet his giant ego doesn’t let him accept his mistake and apologize, and he lets her marry someone else. After Paro’s marriage, Dev goes on a downward spiral, and even when Paro tries to help him, he tries to touch her inappropriately. Finally, she wishes him good luck and returns to her own life.

2. Sweety Sharma: Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety

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While we have to say that the movie is quite problematic in general, it seems to be well-loved by the general audience. Titu is a kind but naive man who somehow keeps ending up in toxic relationships. His best friend Sonu is the one who keeps coming to his rescue and warning him about his choices in women. After Sonu helps Titu break up with his callous and possessive ex, Titu agrees to an arranged marriage and is set up with a woman named Sweety Sharma. Now, Sweety comes across as a soft-spoken and kind person, and Sonu believes that she’s too good to be true. Lucky for him, his suspicions are correct, and she turns out to be manipulative, emotionally abusive, and highly possessive. After many failed ploys to break the couple up, Sonu finally gives up and even helps Titu prepare for the wedding. On the wedding day, he makes a final emotional bid to help save his best friend, and Titu sticks by his friend. Sweety is left fuming at the mandap, and Titu and Sonu are back to being best friends.

3. Vikram Sabharwal: Thappad

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Amrita and Vikram seem like the ideal pair and are popular and well-loved. However, during an office party, Vikram lets his rage get the better of him and ends up slapping Amrita. As Amrita’s happiness is shattered, she decides to go ahead and file for divorce. Although many tell Amrita to “get over it” since it was just a “one-time” thing, Amrita knows what she wants. Vikram refuses to see how disrespectful his action towards her was and states that it happened “accidentally” because she got in the way. After leaving his home for her parents, he even has the audacity to send her a legal notice demanding that she return home. Amrita then finds out that she is pregnant with Vikram’s child. After finding out that she is pregnant, Vikram and his lawyer make false claims about Amrita’s sanity in a bid to gain sole custody of the child. Eventually, Vikram sees his wrongdoings and apologizes to Amrita, and they finally part ways, agreeing to be co-parents to their unborn child.

4. Natasha Arora: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

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Kabir’s engagement to Natasha starts as an accident as she mistakes a ring he bought for his mother for a proposal ring). However, he goes along with the charade just because he genuinely believes she’s the one. Natasha is over-possessive, controlling, and doesn’t trust Kabir. She even crashes his bachelor party after she suspects that he is involved with another friend, Laila. While on their way to Seville, Kabir drops Natasha off (after realizing that Laila and Arjun were a thing). His friends then point out that he is a changed person around her and isn’t behaving like himself. After having a heart-to-heart with his friends and revealing how the proposal happened, he decides to tell Natasha the truth. Later, at Arjun and Laila’s wedding, it’s seen that the pair parted ways and are on great terms. Laila is with someone else at the wedding, and Kabir is single.

5. Ayan Sanger: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil

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And finally, we reach the ultimate movie about getting over your ex, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. After being rejected by the woman he loves, Alizeh, Ayan decides to embark on another relationship with a new woman that he meets on a flight to Dubai. Saba is a poet headed to Vienna, and she shows interest in Ayan. Moved by her brilliant poetry, Ayan becomes romantically involved with her. Afterward, he meets Saba’s ex-husband, and after being told that “one-sided love is not a weakness and is empowering,” he begins to message Alizeh again. Alizeh naively believes that he contacted her only because he missed their friendship, but Ayan has other plans. He sends Alizeh pictures of him and Saba to make her jealous (talk about being an immature person). After he invites Alizeh over for dinner with him and Saba, he gets into a fight with Alizeh and calls her cruel and heartless. Seeing that he is clearly not over his ex-fling, Saba decides to end things and walk away as she believes that her love for him will only end up leaving her hurt.

In the end, when it’s right, it feels right. You cannot force someone to be in a relationship with you just to make you happy. Neither can you be abusive towards your partner (both physically and emotionally) and expect them to put up with it. Do let us know all of your thoughts on this article in the comment section below!

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